[gidion27]

Quote:

I would really love to take the Pandora to a meeting, but there are never meetings anywhere close to me. It's always halfway across the country or something.

That is a shame. Maybe one day there will be a meet on your side of the country.

 

[Dragunov-21]

Quote:

LOL.
 
But seriously guys, cool it. The reason this thread exists was to make the Pandora known to head-fi because it does have good audio hardware. I'm getting one soon and hopefully I can confirm that it sounds good. I'll write a comprehensive review of its capabilities once I've listened to it for a while. For now, there is nothing to discuss. Stop flaming. 

 
I thought it existed as an outlet for you to exaggeratedly gush over the performance of a product you've never used, touched or even seen, dismiss its potential shortcomings and make unfounded comment on other manufacturers' products.
 
Must have it confused with something else.

 

[sswam]

Quote:

I thought it existed as an outlet for you to exaggeratedly gush over the performance of a product you've never used, touched or even seen, dismiss its potential shortcomings and make unfounded comment on other manufacturers' products.
 
Must have it confused with something else.

 
This thread also exists for several Pandora owners to confirm that praise - to confirm that the Pandora has been built with excellent audio hardware, to confirm that it sounds much better than other devices we have heard.
 
And, this thread is an outlet for several less friendly people to hurl mud, dissing the Pandora and fans at every opportunity.  I didn't notice that these trolls know anything much about the Pandora, or about hifi for that matter.
 
Pandora might not be the "ultimate portable player", but I can assure you it is a damn fine player, and a damn fine pocket computer.  I'm not aware of any integrated portable device on the market, which has better audio than the Pandora.  There might be one; but I have not heard of it.
 
What is the best portable player in your opinion?  and what is the best that costs less than $1,000?  Perhaps I can buy or try one, and compare it to the Pandora.  I'll try to be honest and objective.
 
But, you might prefer just to hurl mud.  Hurl away, ye lowly mud slingers!  We do not envy your inferior kit, or your bad attitude.  We pity you, poor souls, who can only throw mud.

 

[gidion27]

Quote:

 
 
But, you might prefer just to hurl mud.  Hurl away, ye lowly mud slingers!  We do not envy your inferior kit, or your bad attitude.  We pity you, poor souls, who can only throw mud.

Nice one. You are your avantar worthy.

 

[RAFA]

Quote:

 
This thread also exists for several Pandora owners to confirm that praise - to confirm that the Pandora has been built with excellent audio hardware, to confirm that it sounds much better than other devices we have heard.
 
And, this thread is an outlet for several less friendly people to hurl mud, dissing the Pandora and fans at every opportunity.  I didn't notice that these trolls know anything much about the Pandora, or about hifi for that matter.
 
Pandora might not be the "ultimate portable player", but I can assure you it is a damn fine player, and a damn fine pocket computer.  I'm not aware of any integrated portable device on the market, which has better audio than the Pandora.  There might be one; but I have not heard of it.
 
What is the best portable player in your opinion?  and what is the best that costs less than $1,000?  Perhaps I can buy or try one, and compare it to the Pandora.  I'll try to be honest and objective.
 
But, you might prefer just to hurl mud.  Hurl away, ye lowly mud slingers!  We do not envy your inferior kit, or your bad attitude.  We pity you, poor souls, who can only throw mud.

 
You shall be quoted in my signature, you great man.

 

[tds101]

@sswam: You, sir, get much props for tact!!!

Besides, if you look at the poll above, there IS interest in this & future Pandora devices. Me, I'm still interested. I'm waiting for the OP's review, and I'm waiting for the next update as well.

This still has a place with some,...I'm just hoping for a upcoming built-in 3/4G option so I can pop my sim in and get internets on-the-go with no tethering.

 

[david1978jp]

@sswam: You, sir, get much props for tact!!!
Besides, if you look at the poll above, there IS interest in this & future Pandora devices. Me, I'm still interested. I'm waiting for the OP's review, and I'm waiting for the next update as well.
This still has a place with some,...I'm just hoping for a upcoming built-in 3/4G option so I can pop my sim in and get internets on-the-go with no tethering.

I am still interested.
The hardware can sound good; the size is not larger than some brick sized players; the price is lower than so-called hi-fi players (very popular at Head-Fi), although it is still not cheap. I visited their forum, many people have been involved for long time; it does not feel like a shrilling company. Beside, those extra functions can be nice bonus if buying it as a music player.
Wait and see, wait and see.

 

[takato14]

Turns out I'm getting an AudioQuest Dragonfly as well, so add that to the inventory of things to compare the Pandora to.

 

[gidion27]

Quote:

Turns out I'm getting an AudioQuest Dragonfly as well, so add that to the inventory of things to compare the Pandora to.

The dragonfly is great. I am sure you will have fun with it

 

[syn010110]

If I had more disposable income than I do, I'd probably buy one just for the collector value. It's just such a neat concept, even if it looks, well, old and has outdated internals and is completely smoked in the performance department by my year-old Galaxy Nexus.
 
It's like the Nokia N9. MeeGo Harmattan is near-useless at this stage (what a shame, I really thought it could've been a strong contender against iOS and Android), yet I'd love to have one just to have one (and maybe to use the Android port on).

 

[Dragunov-21]

Remind me again where I've said the Pandora was crap? I'm calling out someone who's full of it. One person. Not fans, not the Pandora. Don't be such a drama queen.

To answer your question, the Sansa Fuze fulfils my every want for sixty bucks. Ultimate for me, but someone who wants a decent size screen, >40gb storage or longer battery life would justly disagree.

 

[takato14]

Had the Pandora for a day, here's some first impressions.
 
When I first plugged my headphones, I thought the detail was slightly reduced compared to my Playstation Vita, which uses the Wolfson WM8973G DAC. Some notes on a dense song I listen to appeared to be melding together. This was very discouraging. 
 
This was psychoacoustic. The song (Technocracy by Psyborg Corp) is just stupidly dense. Plugging back into my Vita and doing direct comparisons revealed this to me. The melding was actually worse on the Vita. The synths have more texture on the Pandora and as I have never heard this before, my ears were tricked.
 
Using my favorite portables, the Beyerdynamic DT1350s, the Pandora is able to deliver a ridiculous amount of bass slam and power. The tactility of the 1350s really shines through on this unit. The highs have more sparkle and extension than I'm used to hearing from them. I honestly have never heard the 1350s sound this good. Additionally, my KOSS Pro/4AAAs sound much better out of the Pandora as well. They lose their slight forwardness in the upper midrange on the Pandora, and the soundstage expands. They have a performance-like quality to them, and the Pandora delivers it better than my other sources can. 
 
The amp section is quite powerful. It gets my SE-700s louder than my E7 can. The SE-700, for those who don't know, is piezoelectric, and is ridiculously insensitive and has technically infinite impedance. It's by far the hardest to drive headphone I own. It doesn't sound very good out of it, no, but at the same time it doesn't sound good out anything but my home rig since it's so insensitive.
 
I have not been able to get the E7 working with the Pandora via USB yet. I'm still working on it; I'm pretty sure all I need to do is attach it to a USB hub, as that's the solution for most USB-HOST related problems with the unit. Unfortunately, I don't HAVE a USB hub; I'm going to pick one up from the Dollar Store tomorrow if possible.
 
A few comments about usability on-the-go. The Pandora is not very large; I have no problems getting it in or out of my jeans pocket. It is thick however, and while it's not uncomfortable I do feel that it's there. I'm concerned about the shoulder buttons, as they are flush with the system and I foresee them getting pressed by accident while the unit is pocketed. The volume dial and headphone jack are on opposite corners of the unit, which could present a problem if you have it in your jeans pocket and have to adjust the volume. I have not actually taken the unit out yet, so this is just what I'm guessing.
 
One thing to note is that there is not a line out jack on the unit. I was mistaken, the EXT port has pins for a line out jack; the cable needs to either be purchased or constructed from scratch using the connectors available from the online store. The same is true for the TV-Out cable. 
 
So far I'm very impressed with the sound and the device itself. I'll continue listening to it and report back later.

 

[RAFA]

Quote:

Had the Pandora for a day, here's some first impressions.
 
When I first plugged my headphones, I thought the detail was slightly reduced compared to my Playstation Vita, which uses the Wolfson WM8973G DAC. Some notes on a dense song I listen to appeared to be melding together. This was very discouraging. 
 
This was psychoacoustic. The song (Technocracy by Psyborg Corp) is just stupidly dense. Plugging back into my Vita and doing direct comparisons revealed this to me. The melding was actually worse on the Vita. The synths have more texture on the Pandora and as I have never heard this before, my ears were tricked.
 
Using my favorite portables, the Beyerdynamic DT1350s, the Pandora is able to deliver a ridiculous amount of bass slam and power. The tactility of the 1350s really shines through on this unit. The highs have more sparkle and extension than I'm used to hearing from them. I honestly have never heard the 1350s sound this good. Additionally, my KOSS Pro/4AAAs sound much better out of the Pandora as well. They lose their slight forwardness in the upper midrange on the Pandora, and the soundstage expands. They have a performance-like quality to them, and the Pandora delivers it better than my other sources can. 
 
The amp section is quite powerful. It gets my SE-700s louder than my E7 can. The SE-700, for those who don't know, is piezoelectric, and is ridiculously insensitive and has technically infinite impedance. It's by far the hardest to drive headphone I own. It doesn't sound very good out of it, no, but at the same time it doesn't sound good out anything but my home rig since it's so insensitive.
 
I have not been able to get the E7 working with the Pandora via USB yet. I'm still working on it; I'm pretty sure all I need to do is attach it to a USB hub, as that's the solution for most USB-HOST related problems with the unit. Unfortunately, I don't HAVE a USB hub; I'm going to pick one up from the Dollar Store tomorrow if possible.
 
A few comments about usability on-the-go. The Pandora is not very large; I have no problems getting it in or out of my jeans pocket. It is thick however, and while it's not uncomfortable I do feel that it's there. I'm concerned about the shoulder buttons, as they are flush with the system and I foresee them getting pressed by accident while the unit is pocketed. The volume dial and headphone jack are on opposite corners of the unit, which could present a problem if you have it in your jeans pocket and have to adjust the volume. I have not actually taken the unit out yet, so this is just what I'm guessing.
 
One thing to note is that there is not a line out jack on the unit. I was mistaken, the EXT port has pins for a line out jack; the cable needs to either be purchased or constructed from scratch using the connectors available from the online store. The same is true for the TV-Out cable. 
 
So far I'm very impressed with the sound and the device itself. I'll continue listening to it and report back later.

 
 
Very interesting. It would be cool, if you could give us some more impressions on the Pandora DT1350 combo. Would you consider the Pandora sounding better than the E7. I have the E7 for some years now and never listened to it (maybe 2 or 3 times), because I do not like the sound of it.

 

[takato14]

Quote:

Quote:

Had the Pandora for a day, here's some first impressions.
 
When I first plugged my headphones, I thought the detail was slightly reduced compared to my Playstation Vita, which uses the Wolfson WM8973G DAC. Some notes on a dense song I listen to appeared to be melding together. This was very discouraging. 
 
This was psychoacoustic. The song (Technocracy by Psyborg Corp) is just stupidly dense. Plugging back into my Vita and doing direct comparisons revealed this to me. The melding was actually worse on the Vita. The synths have more texture on the Pandora and as I have never heard this before, my ears were tricked.
 
Using my favorite portables, the Beyerdynamic DT1350s, the Pandora is able to deliver a ridiculous amount of bass slam and power. The tactility of the 1350s really shines through on this unit. The highs have more sparkle and extension than I'm used to hearing from them. I honestly have never heard the 1350s sound this good. Additionally, my KOSS Pro/4AAAs sound much better out of the Pandora as well. They lose their slight forwardness in the upper midrange on the Pandora, and the soundstage expands. They have a performance-like quality to them, and the Pandora delivers it better than my other sources can. 
 
The amp section is quite powerful. It gets my SE-700s louder than my E7 can. The SE-700, for those who don't know, is piezoelectric, and is ridiculously insensitive and has technically infinite impedance. It's by far the hardest to drive headphone I own. It doesn't sound very good out of it, no, but at the same time it doesn't sound good out anything but my home rig since it's so insensitive.
 
I have not been able to get the E7 working with the Pandora via USB yet. I'm still working on it; I'm pretty sure all I need to do is attach it to a USB hub, as that's the solution for most USB-HOST related problems with the unit. Unfortunately, I don't HAVE a USB hub; I'm going to pick one up from the Dollar Store tomorrow if possible.
 
A few comments about usability on-the-go. The Pandora is not very large; I have no problems getting it in or out of my jeans pocket. It is thick however, and while it's not uncomfortable I do feel that it's there. I'm concerned about the shoulder buttons, as they are flush with the system and I foresee them getting pressed by accident while the unit is pocketed. The volume dial and headphone jack are on opposite corners of the unit, which could present a problem if you have it in your jeans pocket and have to adjust the volume. I have not actually taken the unit out yet, so this is just what I'm guessing.
 
One thing to note is that there is not a line out jack on the unit. I was mistaken, the EXT port has pins for a line out jack; the cable needs to either be purchased or constructed from scratch using the connectors available from the online store. The same is true for the TV-Out cable. 
 
So far I'm very impressed with the sound and the device itself. I'll continue listening to it and report back later.

 
 
Very interesting. It would be cool, if you could give us some more impressions on the Pandora DT1350 combo. Would you consider the Pandora sounding better than the E7. I have the E7 for some years now and never listened to it (maybe 2 or 3 times), because I do not like the sound of it.

I will certainly give more about the DT1350 in the future. Need to get some more listening time in.
 
The Pandora definitely sounds better than the E7. Much better.

 

[Lateness]

I feel like sswam is just a shill. He doesn't post anywhere but here, and only sings the praise of the Open Pandora. No better definition. The sig also promotes the product, I wouldn't be surprised to know that its one of the open pandora developer's account. Could just be a diehard fanboy...
 
Looks the the OP finally got the open pandora.
 
1. What other sources do you have? I remember you had an iPhone 3G that had been through the wash, and lost some functionality.
 
2. How is it better?
 
3. You didn't really mention which version you have. There is Classic, Rebirth, and 1Ghz version.